WEBVTT THEM.IT'S NOTHING TO THEM.BRIAN: NOW HE IS WORKING TO GETHIS PRIZED POSSESSIONS BACK.TOM: FOR NEARLY A HALF-CENTURY,MIKE POMEROY KEPT THE RECORDSAND MEMORIES OF HIS SERVICELOCKED INSIDE A BLACK GAYS,TOM: FOR NEARLY ATUCKED AWAY AT THE BACK OF HISCLOSET.>> I SPENT 48 YEARS WITH THEPTSD AND NOT GOING TOIT.TRYING TO KEEP ITHIDDE BUTONTHE OTHER HAND, IT'S SOMETHINGYOU DON'T WANT TO LOSE.>> TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, I'LLIN YOU THAT MY HUSBAND WAS AHIGHLY DECORATED WAR VETERAN.BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN SO PRIVATE.RYAN: --TOM: THE BATTERED BOXAT UNOPENED COME UNTIL THIS WEEKWHEN THIEVES LOOK INTO HIS YUBACITY HOME AND BROKE INTO HISSTASH.NOW THE TRUTH IS POURING OUT.>> YOU TRY TO BURY IT AND THAT'SIT.BUT THEMEDMEDALS WERE TO BEPASSED DOWN TO MY FAMILY ANDTHEY COULD SORT OUT WHAT GRANDPADID AND DIDN'T DO.TOM: METALS FOR HEROISM ANDVALOR WHEN HE SERVED AS A MEDICIN VIETNAM.>>I DON'T KNOW WHY SOMEONEWOULD WANT TO TAKE THAT FROMSOMEBODY.TAKE A PART OF THEIR LIFE AWAY.>> THIS HAS SECRETS WE WEREN'TSUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT.TOM: THE STORIES TOO PAINFUL TODISCUSS ARE STILL HERE.BUT IT'S THE DECORATIONS HEWANTS BACK.>> IS A TRAUMATIC PART OF MYLIFE.AND I KNOW I DIDN'T STAND AROUNDTO GET THEM.TOM: HE DOESN'T CAREABOUT MOSTOF THE POSITIONS THAT THEYSTOLEN DOESN'T RESPECT TO GETTHEM BACK.BUT THERE ARE THINGS HE DID AS AYOUNG MAN, LIVES SAVED EMBODIEDIN THOSE METALS.>> THEY WERE MEANT TO BE PASSEDON.TOM: DESPITE THE PAINTHEY CAUSEHIM, THEY ARE PART OF HIS LIFETHAT HE WANTS BACK.

For nearly 50 years, Mike Pomeroy kept the records and memories of his military service locked inside a black suitcase, tucked away in his Yuba City home in the back of a closet.

He’s battled PTSD ever since he left the army in 1968, and to this day, he still struggles to talk about his time in Vietnam.

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His wife said she didn't know that Mike Pomeroy was awarded 24 military medals or what he went through during his time with the U.S. Army.

“Well to tell you the truth, I only knew that my husband was a highly decorated war veteran, because he had been so private. I didn’t know, and still really don’t know the extent of the commendations he received,” Gaylene Pomeroy said.

The truth behind what Pomeroy went through as a young man came pouring out this week -- but not on his terms.

When Yuba City issued an evacuation order Sunday after severe erosion was spotted on the emergency spillway at Lake Oroville and threatened to collapse, the couple left their home.

When they returned, the couple found their house was broken into, and Pomeroy’s Purple Heart and the other medals, were gone.

An evacuated Yuba City vet had his purple heart and two dozen other army medals stolen after he was forced from his home. pic.twitter.com/gcR8mGYffW

“The people that stole them, I don’t know why they took them, they’re nothing to them,” Mike Pomeroy said. “They were really a traumatic part of my life, and I know I didn’t stand around to get them.”

With the case containing the medals, certificate and photos now open, Pomeroy is sharing this hidden part of his life with his family.

He was drafted by the army when he was 19 years old and served as an army medic for 21 months beginning in 1967. He earned his Purple Heart after a mortar exploded just feet away from him, sending shrapnel into his arm.

Mike Pomeroy

“The medals were to be passed down to my family, and then they could sort out what grandpa did or what grandpa didn’t do,” Mike Pomeroy said.

While the medals commemorate a challenging time in his life, they mean nothing to the person who took them.

“I don’t know why someone would want to take that from somebody -- take a part of their life away,” Gaylene Pomeroy said.

Yuba City saw its share of burglaries and theft during the evacuation period. Police reported 10 burglaries in less than 48 hours, which is above average for that time period.

A laptop, jewelry and cash were also taken from the Pomeroys, but many other high-end items were left untouched.

The couple isn’t expecting to ever get that stuff back, but they do hope whoever took the medals will realize they are worth much more in the hands of the man who earned them.

“They were irreplaceable," Mike Pomeroy said. "They were meant to be passed on.”